Defense: Move the 'exploited' Aaron Hernandez to a new jail

Friday

Jun 20, 2014 at 5:01 PMJun 20, 2014 at 7:40 PM

Aaron Hernandez's lawyers are requesting that the former Patriots tight end be transferred from the Bristol County House of Corrections in Dartmouth, in part because Sheriff Thomas M. Hodgson has “exploited” Hernandez for publicity, they say.

Brian Fraga Herald News Staff Reporter @BfragaHN

FALL RIVER — Aaron Hernandez’s lawyers are requesting that the former Patriots tight end be transferred from the Bristol County House of Correction in Dartmouth, in part, they allege, because Sheriff Thomas Hodgson has violated Hernandez’s due process rights and “exploited” his high-profile inmate for publicity.

The Boston-based defense team also says having Hernandez, 24, moved to the Suffolk County House of Correction would make it easier for him to meet with his lawyers, who are now representing Hernandez in two murder cases in both counties.

“In order for Hernandez to receive constitutionally guaranteed effective access to and assistance of counsel, in both cases, he needs to be held in a facility that does not require his counsel to drive up from two, up to three to four hours round-trip each time they need to meet with him,” defense attorneys Michael K. Fee and James L. Sultan wrote in a motion filed Friday in Fall River Superior Court.

In Bristol County, the defense team said, Hernandez has been subject to “unreasonable restrictions” in not always being able to speak privately with his lawyers or having his in-person attorney visits subject to a “bizarre and unprecedented restriction” that limits their location to a designated visitation room. Fee said the quality of the phone connection in the Dartmouth jail is often so poor that Hernandez has to raise his voice to a level where other inmates and correctional officers can hear him.

Hodgson said the defense team previously raised the same issues, including concerns that their in-person meetings with Hernandez were being recorded, in a letter they sent him several months ago. Hogson said his department “refuted” the defense lawyers’ accusations in a follow-up letter.

“None of this is true. It’s old news on their part,” Hodgson said.

Among their accusations, the defense team says the Bristol County Sheriff’s Office is collaborating with the district attorney’s office to obtain evidence in Hernandez’s criminal case, such as forwarding Hernandez’s mail to prosecutors as well as notifying them of some of Hernandez’s recorded jailhouse phone conversations.

In an accompanying filing, Fee attached several emails between the sheriff’s office and prosecutors that Fee says proves the authorities’ nonstop invasion of Hernandez’s privacy by circumventing due process. The emails pertain to prosecution requests for details, recordings and documents of Hernandez’s phone calls, jail visits and correspondence, as well as the identity of other inmates in Hernandez’s cell block.

“The reach and depth of the collaboration between the sheriff and the district attorney is breathtaking, with the sheriff and his staff working at the beck and call of the prosecution team on a daily basis,” said Hernandez’s lawyers, who also charge Hodgson of using Hernandez for self-promotion and “virtually nonstop publicity of every imaginable kind.”

Hodgson said there is “no established conspiratorial sort of thing” between his office and prosecutors.

“We’re not doing anything differently than what we do with anybody else in our institution,” said Hodgson, who added that he answers media questions about Hernandez’s living conditions in a manner that does not impact the criminal case. He also said talking about Hernandez is useful as a cautionary tale to the former Patriots star’s young fans.

“I’ll never apologize for that,” Hodgson said.

Hernandez has been held without bail at the Dartmouth jail since his arrest on June 2013 on murder and firearms violations stemming from the fatal shooting of Odin Lloyd in North Attleborough. Hernandez is also charged with two counts of murder after his alleged role in a 2012 double homicide in Boston.

Hernandez pleaded not guilty on Monday to additional charges that he assaulted an inmate and threatened a correctional officer at the Dartmouth jail. Friday’s court filings included a copy of the correctional officer’s report. The officer said Hernandez became angry when the officer denied him extra food during a meal time last November.

“Inmate Hernandez became verbally aggressive and stated multiple times that when he gets out of jail, he is going to shoot me and kill my family,” the officer wrote.

Defense lawyers said a witness refutes the correctional officer’s allegation, which is also “vigorously contested” by Hernandez. The charge, the defense team said, raises “serious concerns” about Hernandez’s safety at the Dartmouth jail. An October 2013 letter from Hernandez’s lawyers to Hodgson says jail officials warned Hernandez that “Bristol was a ‘Crip’ jail” and that he had to be put in a segregated unit because of his red tattoos, including the words “Blood, Sweat and Tears” written on one hand.

“He has been threatened by other inmates. This is not a safe place for him to be, particularly if he has to suffer inhumane isolation for a protracted period of time,” Hernandez’s lawyers wrote in their October 2013 letter.

Hodgson countered that his department is “doing everything by the book.”

“My job is to make sure the inmates’ rights are protected, that he’s protected from any kind of physical harm, and that’s our job.,” Hodgson said.